It was an understandbly massive moment for the club and their fans after such a long wait and Carragher believes Ancelotti’s ability to manage his team’s emotions was the key factor in getting over the line at last.
“I never gave a man of the match in the game for whatever reason, maybe it slipped my mind,” he said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football. “There was probably three or four Everton players you could have given it to, but I watched the game again yesterday morning when I got up and their man of the match was the manager, Carlo Ancelotti.
“I’ll tell you the reason, in my experience, the record is so poor, and also at Goodison in the last 20 years as well. Everton never get the derby right emotionally. They’re either too up for it, and they get players sent off, or they’re absolutely terrified going into games, certainly at Anfield.
“And the reason I say Ancelotti won Everton that game, is that he took the emotion out of the game, with the team he picked. So when that team came in, Evertonians, getting ready for the game, their heart sank. No Calvert-Lewin, and no Allan.
“Now, Allan hasn’t played for two months. Calvert-Lewin was coming back from a hamstring injury. So it’s the right decision.
“But emotionally at times, Everton see the derby as the biggest game you have to win. Roberto Martinez told me a story where he almost felt pressured to play Gareth Barry in a derby game at Anfield and he wasn’t 100 per cent fit.
“He got injured, they lost the game, and he missed an FA Cup semi-final, and he always looks back at that as a huge regret. Ancelotti, again, ended up saying this is three points for our European ambition, forget Liverpool.”
Discussion about this post